A glance at a map of the Arctic regions shows us that many of the rivers belonging to the three continents—Europe, Asia, America—discharge their waters into the Polar Ocean or its tributary9 bays. The territories drained by these streams, some of which (such as the Mackenzie, the Yukon, the Lena, the Yenisei, and the Obi) rank among the giant rivers of the earth, form, along with the islands within or near the Arctic circle, the vast region over which the frost-king reigns10 supreme11.
Man styles himself the lord of the earth, and may with some justice lay claim to the title in more genial12 lands where, armed with the plough, he compels the soil to yield him a variety of fruits; but in those desolate13 tracts18 which are winter-bound during the greater part of the year, he is generally a mere15 wanderer over its surface—a hunter, a fisherman, or a herdsman—and but few small settlements, separated from each other by immense deserts, give proof of his having made some weak attempts to establish a footing.
It is difficult to determine with precision the limits of the Arctic lands, since many countries situated17 as low as latitude2 60° or even 50°, such as South Greenland, Labrador, Alaska, Kamchatka, or the country about Lake Baikal, have in their climate and productions a decidedly Arctic character, while others of a far more northern position, such as the coast of Norway, enjoy even in winter a remarkably18 mild temperature. But they are naturally divided into two principal and well-marked zones—that of the forests, and that of the treeless wastes.
3. INDIAN SUMMER ENCAMPMENT, ALASKA.
The latter, comprising the islands within the Arctic Circle, form a belt, more or less broad, bounded by the continental shores of the North Polar seas, and gradually merging19 toward the south into the forest-region, which encircles them with a garland of evergreen20 coniferæ. This treeless zone bears the name of the “barren grounds,” or the “barrens,” in North America, and of “tundri” in Siberia and European Russia. Its want of trees is caused not so much by its high northern latitude as by the cold sea-winds which sweep unchecked over the islands or the flat coast-lands of the Polar Ocean, and for miles and miles compel even the hardiest21 plant to crouch22 before the blast and creep along the ground.
Nothing can be more melancholy23 than the aspect of the boundless24 morasses25 or arid26 wastes of the tundri. Dingy27 mosses29 and gray lichens30 form the chief19 vegetation, and a few scanty31 grasses or dwarfish33 flowers that may have found a refuge in some more sheltered spot are unable to relieve the dull monotony of the scene.
In winter, when animal life has mostly retreated to the south or sought a refuge in burrows34 or in caves, an awful silence, interrupted only by the hooting35 of a snow-owl or the yelping36 of a fox, reigns over their vast expanse; but in spring, when the brown earth reappears from under the melted snow and the swamps begin to thaw37, enormous flights of wild birds appear upon the scene and enliven it for a few months. An admirable instinct leads their winged legions from distant climes to the Arctic wildernesses38, where in the morasses or lakes, on the banks of the rivers, on the flat strands41, or along the fish-teeming coasts, they find an abundance of food, and where at the same time they can with greater security build their nests and rear their young. Some remain on the skirts of the forest-region; others, flying farther northward42, lay their eggs upon the naked tundra. Eagles and hawks43 follow the traces of the natatorial and strand40 birds; troops of ptarmigans roam among the stunted44 bushes; and when the sun shines, the finch45 or the snow-bunting warbles his merry note.
While thus the warmth of summer attracts hosts of migratory46 birds to the Arctic wildernesses, shoals of salmon47 and sturgeons enter the rivers in obedience48 to the instinct that forces them to quit the seas and to swim stream upward, for the purpose of depositing their spawn49 in the tranquil50 sweet waters of the stream or lake. About this time also the reindeer51 leaves the forests to feed on the herbs and lichens of the tundra, and to seek along the shores fanned by the cooled sea-breeze some protection against the attacks of the stinging flies that rise in myriads52 from the swamps. Thus during several months the tundra presents an animated53 scene, in which man also plays his part. The birds of the air, the fishes of the water, the beasts of the earth, are all obliged to pay their tribute to his various wants, to appease54 his hunger, to clothe his body, or to gratify his greed of gain.
But as soon as the first frosts of September announce the approach of winter, all animals, with but few exceptions, hasten to leave a region where the sources of life must soon fail. The geese, ducks, and swans return in dense55 flocks to the south; the strand-birds seek in some lower latitude a softer soil which allows their sharp beak56 to seize a burrowing57 prey58; the water-fowl forsake59 the bays and channels that will soon be blocked up with ice; the reindeer once more return to the forest, and in a short time nothing is left that can induce man to prolong his stay in the treeless plain. Soon a thick mantle60 of snow covers the hardened earth, the frozen lake, the ice-bound river, and conceals61 them all—seven, eight, nine months long—under its monotonous62 pall63, except where the furious north-east wind sweeps it away and lays bare the naked rock.
This snow, which after it has once fallen persists until the long summer’s day has effectually thawed64 it, protects in an admirable manner the vegetation of the higher latitudes against the cold of the long winter season. For snow is so bad a conductor of heat, that in mid-winter in the high latitude of 78°20 50° (Rensselaer Bay), while the surface temperature was as low as -30°, Kane found at two feet deep a temperature of -8°, at four feet +2°, and at eight feet +26°, or no more than six degrees below the freezing-point of water. Thus covered by a warm crystal snow-mantle, the northern plants pass the long winter in a comparatively mild temperature, high enough to maintain their life, while, without, icy blasts—capable of converting mercury into a solid body—howl over the naked wilderness39; and as the first snow-falls are more cellular65 and less condensed than the nearly impalpable powder of winter, Kane justly observes that no “eider-down in the cradle of an infant is tucked in more kindly66 than the sleeping-dress of winter about the feeble plant-life of the Arctic zone.” Thanks to this protection, and to the influence of a sun which for months circles above the horizon, and in favorable localities calls forth67 the powers of vegetation in an incredibly short time, even Washington, Grinnell Land, and Spitzbergen are able to boast of flowers. Morton plucked a crucifer at Cape68 Constitution (80° 45’ N. lat.), and, on the banks of Mary Minturn River (78° 52’), Kane came across a flower-growth which, though drearily69 Arctic in its type, was rich in variety and coloring. Amid festuca and other tufted grasses twinkled the purple lychnis and the white star of the chickweed; and, not without its pleasing associations, he recognized a solitary70 hesperis—the Arctic representative of the wall-flowers of home.
4. ROCKS AND ICE.
Next to the lichens and mosses, which form the chief vegetation of the treeless zone, the cruciferæ, the grasses, the saxifragas, the caryophyllæ, and the compositæ are the families of plants most largely represented, in the barren grounds or tundri. Though vegetation becomes more and more uniform on advancing to the north, yet the number of individual plants does not decrease.21 When the soil is moderately dry, the surface is covered by a dense carpet of lichens (Corniculariæ), mixed in damper spots with Icelandic moss28. In more tenacious71 soils, other plants flourish, not however to the exclusion72 of lichens, except in tracts14 of meadow ground, which occur in sheltered situations, or in the alluvial73 inundated74 flats where tall reed-grasses or dwarf32 willows75 frequently grow as closely as they can stand.
5. COAST OF LABRADOR.
It may easily be supposed that the boundary-line which separates the tundri from the forest zone is both indistinct and irregular. In some parts where the cold sea-winds have a wider range, the barren grounds encroach considerably22 upon the limits of the forests; in others, where the configuration77 of the land prevents their action, the woods advance farther to the north.
6. COAST OF NORWAY.
Thus the barren grounds attain78 their most southerly limit in Labrador, where they descend79 to latitude 57°, and this is sufficiently80 explained by the position of that bleak81 peninsula, bounded on three sides by icy seas, and washed by cold currents from the north. On the opposite coasts of Hudson’s Bay they begin about 60°, and thence gradually rise toward the mouth of the Mackenzie, where the forests advance as high as 68°, or even still farther to the north along the low banks of that river. From the Mackenzie the barrens again descend until they reach Bering’s Sea in 65° N. On the opposite or Asiatic shore, in the land of the Tchuktchi, they begin again more to the south, in 63°, thence continually rise as far as the Lena, where Anjou found trees in 71° N., and then fall again toward the Obi, where the forests do not even reach the Arctic circle. From the Obi the tundri retreat farther and farther to the north, until finally, on the coasts of Norway, in latitude 70°, they terminate with the land itself.
Hence we see that the treeless zone of Europe, Asia, and America occupies a space larger than the whole of Europe. Even the African Sahara, or the Pampas of South America, are inferior in extent to the Siberian tundri. But the possession of a few hundred square miles of fruitful territory on the south-western frontiers of his vast empire would be of greater value to the Czar than that of those boundless wastes, which are tenanted only by a few wretched pastoral tribes, or some equally wretched fishermen.
7. ARCTIC FOREST.
The Arctic forest-regions are of a still greater extent than the vast treeless plains which they encircle. When we consider that they form an almost continuous23 belt, stretching through three parts of the world, in a breadth of from 15° to 20°, even the woods of the Amazon, which cover a surface fifteen times greater than that of the United Kingdom, shrink into comparative insignificance82. Unlike the tropical forests, which are characterized by an immense variety of trees, these northern woods are almost entirely83 composed of coniferæ, and one single kind of fir or pine often covers an immense extent of24 ground. The European and Asiatic species differ, however, from those which grow in America.
8. VERGE84 OF FOREST REGION.
Thus in the Russian empire and Scandinavia we find the Scotch85 fir (Pinus sylvestris), the Siberian fir and larch86 (Abies sibirica, Larix sibirica), the Picea obovata, and the Pinus cembra; while in the Hudson’s Bay territories the woods principally consist of the white and black spruce (Abies alba and nigra), the Canadian larch (Larix canadensis), and the gray pine (Pinus banksiana). In both continents birch-trees grow farther to the north than the coniferæ, and the dwarf willows form dense thickets87 on the shores of every river and lake. Various species of the service-tree, the ash, and the elder are also met with in the Arctic forests; and both under the shelter of the woods and beyond their limits, nature, as if to compensate89 for the want of fruit-trees, produces in favorable localities an abundance of bilberries, bogberries, cranberries90, etc. (Empetrum, Vaccinium), whose fruit is a great boon91 to man and beast. When congealed92 by the autumnal frosts, the berries frequently remain hanging on the bushes until the snow melts in the following June, and are then a considerable resource to the flocks of water-fowl migrating to their northern breeding-places, or to the bear awakening93 from his winter sleep.
25 Another distinctive94 character of the forests of the high latitudes is their apparent youth, so that generally the traveller would hardly suppose them to be more than fifty years, or at most a century old. Their juvenile95 appearance increases on advancing northward, until suddenly their decrepit96 age is revealed by the thick bushes of lichens which clothe or hang down from their shrivelled boughs97. Farther to the south, large trees are found scattered98 here and there, but not so numerous as to modify the general appearance of the forest, and even these are mere dwarfs99 when compared with the gigantic firs of more temperate100 climates. This phenomenon is sufficiently explained by the shortness of the summer, which, though able to bring forth new shoots, does not last long enough for the formation of wood. Hence the growth of trees becomes slower and slower on advancing to the north; so that on the banks of the Great Bear Lake, for instance, 400 years are necessary for the formation of a trunk not thicker than a man’s waist. Toward the confines of the tundra, the woods are reduced to stunted stems, covered with blighted101 buds that have been unable to develop themselves into branches, and which prove by their numbers how frequently and how vainly they have striven against the wind, until finally the last remnants of arboreal102 vegetation, vanquished103 by the blasts of winter, seek refuge under a carpet of lichens and mosses, from which their annual shoots hardly venture to peep forth.
A third peculiarity104 which distinguishes the forests of the north from those of the tropical world is what may be called their harmless character. There the traveller finds none of those noxious105 plants whose juices contain a deadly poison, and even thorns and prickles are of rare occurrence. No venomous snake glides106 through the thicket88; no crocodile lurks107 in the swamp; and the northern beasts of prey—the bear, the lynx, the wolf—are far less dangerous and blood-thirsty than the large felidæ of the torrid zone.
The comparatively small number of animals living in the Arctic forests corresponds with the monotony of their vegetation. Here we should seek in vain for that immense variety of insects, or those troops of gaudy108 birds which in the Brazilian woods excite the admiration109, and not unfrequently cause the despair of the wanderer; here we should in vain expect to hear the clamorous110 voices that resound111 in the tropical thickets. No noisy monkeys or quarrelsome parrots settle on the branches of the trees; no shrill112 cicadæ or melancholy goat-suckers interrupt the solemn stillness of the night; the howl of the hungry wolf, or the hoarse113 screech114 of some solitary bird of prey, are almost the only sounds that ever disturb the repose115 of these awful solitudes116. When the tropical hurricane sweeps over the virgin117 forests, it awakens118 a thousand voices of alarm; but the Arctic storm, however furiously it may blow, scarcely calls forth an echo from the dismal119 shades of the pine-woods of the north.
In one respect only the forests and swamps of the northern regions vie in abundance of animal life with those of the equatorial zone, for the legions of gnats120 which the short polar summer calls forth from the Arctic morasses are a no less intolerable plague than the mosquitoes of the tropical marshes121.
9. FOREST CONFLAGRATION122.
Though agriculture encroaches but little upon the Arctic woods, yet the agency of man is gradually working a change in their aspect. Large tracts of26 forest are continually wasted by extensive fires, kindled123 accidentally or intentionally124, which spread with rapidity over a wide extent of country, and continue to burn until they are extinguished by a heavy rain. Sooner or later a new growth of timber springs up, but the soil, being generally enriched and saturated125 with alkali, now no longer brings forth its aboriginal126 firs, but gives birth to a thicket of beeches128 (Betula alba) in Asia, or of aspens in America.
27 The line of perpetual snow may naturally be expected to descend lower and lower on advancing to the pole, and hence many mountainous regions or elevated plateaux, such as the interior of Spitzbergen, of Greenland, of Nova Zembla, etc., which in a more temperate clime would be verdant129 with woods or meadows, are here covered with vast fields of ice, from which frequently glaciers130 descend down to the verge of the sea. But even in the highest northern latitudes, no land has yet been found covered as far as the water’s edge with eternal snow, or where winter has entirely subdued131 the powers of vegetation. The reindeer of Spitzbergen find near 80° N. lichens or grasses to feed upon; in favorable seasons the snow melts by the end of June on the plains of Melville Island, and numerous lemmings, requiring vegetable food for their subsistence, inhabit the deserts of New Siberia. As far as man has reached to the north, vegetation, when fostered by a sheltered situation and the refraction of solar heat from the rocks, has everywhere been found to rise to a considerable altitude above the level of the sea; and should there be land at the North Pole, there is every reason to believe that it is destitute132 neither of animal nor vegetable life. It would be equally erroneous to suppose that the cold of winter invariably increases as we near the pole, as the temperature of a land is influenced by many other causes besides its latitude. Even in the most northern regions hitherto visited by man, the influence of the sea, particularly when favored by warm currents, is found to mitigate133 the severity of the winter, while at the same time it diminishes the warmth of summer. On the other hand, the large continental tracts of Asia or America that shelve toward the pole have a more intense winter cold and a far greater summer’s heat than many coast-lands or islands situated far nearer to the pole. Thus, to cite but a few examples, the western shores of Nova Zembla, fronting a wide expanse of sea, have an average winter temperature of only -4°, and a mean summer temperature but little above the freezing-point of water (+36½°), while Jakutsk, situated in the heart of Siberia, and 20° nearer to the Equator, has a winter of -36° 6’, and a summer of +66° 6’.
The influence of the winds is likewise of considerable importance in determining the greater or lesser134 severity of an Arctic climate. Thus the northerly winds which prevail in Baffin’s Bay and Davis’s Straits during the summer months, and fill the straits of the American north-eastern Archipelago with ice, are probably the main cause of the abnormal depression of temperature in that quarter; while, on the contrary, the southerly winds that prevail during summer in the valley of the Mackenzie tend greatly to extend the forest of that favored region nearly down to the shores of the Arctic Sea. Even in the depth of a Siberian winter, a sudden change of wind is able to raise the thermometer from a mercury-congealing cold to a temperature above the freezing-point of water, and a warm wind has been known to cause rain to fall in Spitzbergen in the month of January.
The voyages of Kane and Belcher have made us acquainted with the lowest temperatures ever felt by man. On Feb. 5, 1854, while the former was wintering in Smith’s Sound (78° 37’ N. lat.), the mean of his best spirit-thermometer showed the unexampled temperature of -68° or 100° below the28 freezing-point of water. Then chloric ether became solid, and carefully prepared chloroform exhibited a granular pellicle on its surface. The exhalations from the skin invested the exposed or partially135 clad parts with a wreath of vapor136. The air had a perceptible pungency137 upon inspiration, and every one, as it were involuntarily, breathed guardedly with compressed lips. About the same time (February 9 and 10, 1854), Sir E. Belcher experienced a cold of -55° in Wellington Channel (75° 31’ N.), and the still lower temperature of -62° on January 13, 1853, in Northumberland Sound (76° 52’ N.). Whymper, on December 6, 1866, experienced -58° at Nulatto, Alaska (64° 42’ N.).
Whether the temperature of the air descends138 still lower on advancing toward the pole, or whether these extreme degrees of cold are not sometimes surpassed in those mountainous regions of the north which, though seen, have never yet been explored, is of course an undecided question: so much is certain, that the observations hitherto made during the winter of the Arctic regions have been limited to too short a time, and are too few in number, to enable us to determine with any degree of certainty those points where the greatest cold prevails. All we know is, that beyond the Arctic Circle, and eight or ten degrees farther to the south in the interior of the continents of Asia and America, the average temperature of the winter generally ranges from -20° to -30°, or even lower, and for a great part of the year is able to convert mercury into a solid body.
It may well be asked how man is able to bear the excessively low temperature of an Arctic winter, which must appear truly appalling139 to an inhabitant of the temperate zone. A thick fur clothing; a hut small and low, where the warmth of a fire, or simply of a train-oil lamp, is husbanded in a narrow space, and, above all, the wonderful power of the human constitution to accommodate itself to every change of climate, go far to counteract140 the rigor6 of the cold.
After a very few days the body develops an increasing warmth as the thermometer descends; for the air being condensed by the cold, the lungs inhale141 at every breath a greater quantity of oxygen, which of course accelerates the internal process of combustion142, while at the same time an increasing appetite, gratified with a copious143 supply of animal food, of flesh and fat, enriches the blood and enables it to circulate more vigorously. Thus not only the hardy144 native of the north, but even the healthy traveller soon gets accustomed to bear without injury the rigors of an Arctic winter.
“The mysterious compensations,” says Kane, “by which we adapt ourselves to climate are more striking here than in the tropics. In the Polar zone the assault is immediate145 and sudden, and, unlike the insidious146 fatality147 of hot countries, produces its results rapidly. It requires hardly a single winter to tell who are to be the heat-making and acclimatized men. Petersen, for instance, who has resided for two years at Upernavik, seldom enters a room with a fire. Another of our party, George Riley, with a vigorous constitution, established habits of free exposure, and active cheerful temperament148, has so inured149 himself to the cold, that he sleeps on our sledge150 journeys without a blanket or any other covering than his walking suit, while the outside temperature is -30°.”
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10. ARCTIC CLOTHING.
There are many proofs that a milder climate once reigned in the northern regions of the globe. Fossil pieces of wood, petrified151 acorns152 and fir-cones have been found in the interior of Banks’s Land by M’Clure’s sledging-parties. At Anakerdluk, in North Greenland (70° N.), a large forest lies buried on a mountain surrounded by glaciers, 1080 feet above the level of the sea. Not only the trunks and branches, but even the leaves, fruit-cones, and seeds have been preserved in the soil, and enable the botanist153 to determine the species of the plants to which they belong. They show that, besides firs and sequoias, oaks, plantains, elms, magnolias, and even laurels154, indicating a climate such as that of Lausanne or Geneva, flourished during the miocene period in a country where now even the willow76 is compelled to creep along the ground. During the same epoch155 of the earth’s history Spitzbergen was likewise covered with stately forests. The same poplars and the same swamp-cypress (Taxodium dubium) which then flourished in North Greenland have been found in a fossilized state at Bell Sound (76° N.) by the Swedish naturalists156, who also discovered a plantain and a linden as high as 78° and 79° in King’s Bay—a proof that in those times the climate of Spitzbergen can not have been colder30 than that which now reigns in Southern Sweden and Norway, eighteen degrees nearer to the line.
We know that at present the fir, the poplar, and the beech127 grow fifteen degrees farther to the north than the plantain—and the miocene period no doubt exhibited the same proportion. Thus the poplars and firs which then grew in Spitzbergen along with plantains and lindens must have ranged as far as the pole itself, supposing that point to be dry land.
In the miocene times the Arctic zone evidently presented a very different aspect from that which it wears at present. Now, during the greater part of the year, an immense glacial desert, which through its floating bergs and drift-ice depresses the temperature of countries situated far to the south, it then consisted of verdant lands covered with luxuriant forests and bathed by an open sea.
What may have been the cause of these amazing changes of climate? The readiest answer seems to be—a different distribution of sea and land; but there is no reason to believe that in the miocene times there was less land in the Arctic zone than at present, nor can any possible combination of water and dry land be imagined sufficient to account for the growth of laurels in Greenland or of plantains in Spitzbergen. Dr. Oswald Heer is inclined to seek for an explanation of the phenomenon, not in mere local terrestrial changes, but in a difference of the earth’s position in the heavens.
11. ARCTIC MOONLIGHT.
We now know that our sun, with his attendant planets and satellites, performs a vast circle, embracing perhaps hundreds of thousands of years, round another star, and that we are constantly entering new regions of space untravelled31 by our earth before. We come from the unknown, and plunge157 into the unknown; but so much is certain, that our solar system rolls at present through a space but thinly peopled with stars, and there is no reason to doubt that it may once have wandered through one of those celestial158 provinces where, as the telescope shows us, constellations159 are far more densely160 clustered. But, as every star is a blazing sun, the greater or lesser number of these heavenly bodies must evidently have a proportionate influence upon the temperature of space; and thus we may suppose that during the miocene period our earth, being at that time in a populous161 sidereal162 region, enjoyed the benefit of a higher temperature, which clothed even its poles with verdure. In the course of ages the sun conducted his herd16 of planets into more solitary and colder regions, which caused the warm miocene times to be followed by the glacial period, during which the Swiss flat lands bore an Arctic character, and finally the sun emerged into a space of an intermediate character, which determines the present condition of the climates of our globe.
12. AURORA SEEN IN NORWAY.
Though Nature generally wears a more stern and forbidding aspect on advancing toward the pole, yet the high latitudes have many beauties of their32 own. Nothing can exceed the magnificence of an Arctic sunset, clothing the snow-clad mountains and the skies with all the glories of color, or be more serenely163 beautiful than the clear star-light night, illumined by the brilliant moon, which for days continually circles around the horizon, never setting until33 she has run her long course of brightness. The uniform whiteness of the landscape and the general transparency of the atmosphere add to the lustre164 of her beams, which serve the natives to guide their nomadic165 life, and to lead them to their hunting-grounds.
13. AURORA SEEN IN GREENLAND.
But of all the magnificent spectacles that relieve the monotonous gloom of the Arctic winter, there is none to equal the magical beauty of the Aurora. Night covers the snow-clad earth; the stars glimmer166 feebly through the haze167 which so frequently dims their brilliancy in the high latitudes, when suddenly a broad and clear bow of light spans the horizon in the direction where it is traversed by the magnetic meridian168. This bow sometimes remains169 for several hours, heaving or waving to and fro, before it sends forth streams of light ascending170 to the zenith. Sometimes these flashes proceed from the bow of light alone; at others they simultaneously171 shoot forth from many opposite parts of the horizon, and form a vast sea of fire whose brilliant waves are continually changing their position. Finally they all unite in a magnificent crown or copula of light, with the appearance of which the phenomenon attains172 its highest degree of splendor173. The brilliancy of the streams, which are commonly red at their base, green in the middle, and light yellow toward the zenith, increases, while at the same time they dart174 with greater vivacity175 through the skies. The colors are wonderfully transparent176, the red approaching to a clear blood-red, the green to a pale emerald tint177. On turning from the flaming firmament178 to the earth, this also is seen to glow with a magical light. The dark sea, black as jet, forms a striking contrast to the white snow-plain or the distant ice-mountain; all the outlines tremble as if they belonged to the unreal world of dreams. The imposing179 silence of the night heightens the charms of the magnificent spectacle.
But gradually the crown fades, the bow of light dissolves, the streams become shorter, less frequent, and less vivid; and finally the gloom of winter once more descends upon the northern desert.
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latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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tundra
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| n.苔原，冻土地带 | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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rigors
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| 严格( rigor的名词复数 )； 严酷； 严密； （由惊吓或中毒等导致的身体）僵直 | |
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rigor
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| n.严酷，严格，严厉 | |
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reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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aurora
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| n.极光 | |
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tributary
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| n.支流；纳贡国；adj.附庸的；辅助的；支流的 | |
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reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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tracts
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| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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merging
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| 合并（分类） | |
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evergreen
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| n.常青树；adj.四季常青的 | |
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hardiest
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| 能吃苦耐劳的，坚强的( hardy的最高级 )； （植物等）耐寒的 | |
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22
crouch
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| v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏 | |
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23
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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24
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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25
morasses
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| n.缠作一团( morass的名词复数 )；困境；沼泽；陷阱 | |
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26
arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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27
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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28
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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29
mosses
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| n. 藓类, 苔藓植物 名词moss的复数形式 | |
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30
lichens
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| n.地衣( lichen的名词复数 ) | |
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31
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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32
dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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33
dwarfish
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| a.像侏儒的，矮小的 | |
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34
burrows
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| n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻 | |
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35
hooting
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩 | |
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36
yelping
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 ) | |
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37
thaw
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| v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和 | |
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38
wildernesses
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| 荒野( wilderness的名词复数 )； 沙漠； （政治家）在野； 不再当政（或掌权） | |
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39
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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40
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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41
strands
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| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
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42
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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43
hawks
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| 鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物 | |
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44
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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45
finch
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| n.雀科鸣禽(如燕雀，金丝雀等) | |
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46
migratory
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| n.候鸟，迁移 | |
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47
salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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48
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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49
spawn
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| n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产 | |
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50
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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51
reindeer
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| n.驯鹿 | |
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52
myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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53
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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54
appease
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| v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足 | |
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55
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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56
beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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57
burrowing
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| v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的现在分词 )；翻寻 | |
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58
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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59
forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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60
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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61
conceals
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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62
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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63
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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64
thawed
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| 解冻 | |
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65
cellular
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| adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的 | |
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66
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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67
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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68
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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69
drearily
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| 沉寂地，厌倦地，可怕地 | |
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70
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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71
tenacious
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| adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的 | |
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72
exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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73
alluvial
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| adj.冲积的；淤积的 | |
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74
inundated
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| v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付 | |
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75
willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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76
willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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77
configuration
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| n.结构，布局，形态，(计算机)配置 | |
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78
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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79
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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80
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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81
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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82
insignificance
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| n.不重要；无价值；无意义 | |
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83
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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84
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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85
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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86
larch
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| n.落叶松 | |
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87
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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88
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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89
compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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90
cranberries
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| n.越橘( cranberry的名词复数 ) | |
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91
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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92
congealed
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| v.使凝结，冻结( congeal的过去式和过去分词 )；（指血）凝结 | |
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93
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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94
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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95
juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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96
decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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97
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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98
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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99
dwarfs
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| n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式） | |
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100
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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101
blighted
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| adj.枯萎的，摧毁的 | |
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102
arboreal
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| adj.树栖的；树的 | |
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103
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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104
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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105
noxious
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| adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的 | |
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106
glides
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| n.滑行( glide的名词复数 )；滑音；音渡；过渡音v.滑动( glide的第三人称单数 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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107
lurks
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| n.潜在，潜伏；（lurk的复数形式）vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的第三人称单数形式） | |
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108
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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109
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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110
clamorous
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| adj.吵闹的，喧哗的 | |
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111
resound
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| v.回响 | |
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112
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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113
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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114
screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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115
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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116
solitudes
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| n.独居( solitude的名词复数 )；孤独；荒僻的地方；人迹罕至的地方 | |
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117
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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118
awakens
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的第三人称单数 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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119
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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120
gnats
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| n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 ) | |
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121
marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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122
conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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123
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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124
intentionally
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| ad.故意地，有意地 | |
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125
saturated
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| a.饱和的，充满的 | |
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126
aboriginal
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| adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的 | |
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127
beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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128
beeches
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| n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材 | |
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129
verdant
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| adj.翠绿的，青翠的，生疏的，不老练的 | |
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130
glaciers
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| 冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 ) | |
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131
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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132
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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133
mitigate
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| vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和 | |
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134
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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135
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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136
vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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137
pungency
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| n.（气味等的）刺激性；辣；（言语等的）辛辣；尖刻 | |
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138
descends
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| v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜 | |
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139
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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140
counteract
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| vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消 | |
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141
inhale
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| v.吸入(气体等)，吸(烟) | |
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142
combustion
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| n.燃烧；氧化；骚动 | |
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143
copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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144
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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145
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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146
insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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fatality
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| n.不幸，灾祸，天命 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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inured
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| adj.坚强的，习惯的 | |
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150
sledge
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| n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往 | |
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petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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152
acorns
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| n.橡子，栎实( acorn的名词复数 ) | |
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153
botanist
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| n.植物学家 | |
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154
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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155
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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156
naturalists
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| n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者 | |
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157
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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159
constellations
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| n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人） | |
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densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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sidereal
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| adj.恒星的 | |
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serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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nomadic
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| adj.流浪的；游牧的 | |
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glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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meridian
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| adj.子午线的；全盛期的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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attains
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的第三人称单数 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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173
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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